Dog Shoots Goose Hunter

A Texas man died after his dog stepped on a loaded shotgun, the Houston Chronicle reports. The teacher, 46, shot down a goose, put the gun in back of the truck, and was about to let the dog out to retrieve it when the gun went off, blowing through the tailgate and hitting him in the thigh. "It's the strangest case that I've seen," commented the country sheriff.

The man died at the hospital, from blood lost before his hunting partner could get him there. Police found the dog's paw prints on the muddy shotgun. The dead man's sister speculated that the overexcited dog had been jumping around in the back of the truck and somehow knocked the safety off and hit the trigger. The chocolate Labrador, Arthur, is said to have been looking lost and sad since his owner's death. (More hunting stories.)